Thanks to a massive lift from multi-platform viewership, the series premiere of “Cruel Summer” now ranks as Freeform’s most-watched series launch ever.
According to the network, the show drew a multi-platform viewership average of 3.81 million viewers during its first week. The figure ranks as an all-time high among Freeform premieres.
“Cruel Summer” also set new network premiere records for adults 18-49 (2.65 million) and adults 18-34 (1.33 million).
Non-traditional viewing, such as DVR, streaming, and video on-demand, contributed heavily to the overall viewership number. The initial television broadcast drew 274K live+same-day viewers at 9PM and such 218K viewers at 10PM, according to Showbuzz Daily. Though comparable to (if not better than) recent live+same-day ratings for other Freeform series, they are not record-breaking figures.
Freeform adds that the “Cruel Summer” premiered ranked as the #1 “most social scripted series premiere across cable year-to-date.”
